DMP mutual support thread part 13 !!

ditty1234

nicwantstobuy said:

Thanks for all the advice & support so far. I decided to go Dmp with step change. MASSIVE decision for me, I’ve had to really shift my thinking about where to prioritise money - rent, gas & elec, loan, were priority over everything else inc food. The poor advisor at step change, I cried so much when we talked through my budget, I’d been massively reducing our food budget, buying enough for my little boy, cutting back on mine to two decent meals a week & everything else either on toast or my work lunches of coffee & a dairy Lea dunker. The advisor was great, really supportive & patient. 

I think I’ve started to accept that dmp will be best but I’m still a bit scared as my first ever missed payment will be next week. Hopefully when the sky doesn’t fall in then I might feel some relief. It does feel good to know I will have money for food next month, as well as all the bills. 

To the poster above asking re savings, I would also love to buy. I was advised that I can save a max of £25 per month -(this also feels like a luxury) I guess it depends on whether creditors want to see your budget?  I’ve no experience of this, my budget was planned with step change who I think share it with my creditors. If you can afford to save could you repay your debts quicker then save? I’m hoping that once I have more realistic actual costs of living that I can increase my payments.  Sorry I don’t have answers but I’m sure someone else will know for sure. Good luck 

'I was advised that I can save a max of £25 per month' this is why I went self managed after about a year or two - when I had time to sit down and write all of the letters. You will need to save up more than £25 a month - an emergency might cost anything from £100-£500 depending if it is a car repair - a fridge or a vet bill. If you read back through this thread you will find lots of great advice about saving up for an emergency fund for 3-6 months before you start paying off your debt. 

I am 4 years in and to get off the credit card mill is the best thing I ever did. 

Grazia41

ditty1234 said:

Grazia41 said:

nicwantstobuy said:

Thanks for all the advice & support so far. I decided to go Dmp with step change. MASSIVE decision for me, I’ve had to really shift my thinking about where to prioritise money - rent, gas & elec, loan, were priority over everything else inc food. The poor advisor at step change, I cried so much when we talked through my budget, I’d been massively reducing our food budget, buying enough for my little boy, cutting back on mine to two decent meals a week & everything else either on toast or my work lunches of coffee & a dairy Lea dunker. The advisor was great, really supportive & patient. 

I think I’ve started to accept that dmp will be best but I’m still a bit scared as my first ever missed payment will be next week. Hopefully when the sky doesn’t fall in then I might feel some relief. It does feel good to know I will have money for food next month, as well as all the bills. 

To the poster above asking re savings, I would also love to buy. I was advised that I can save a max of £25 per month -(this also feels like a luxury) I guess it depends on whether creditors want to see your budget?  I’ve no experience of this, my budget was planned with step change who I think share it with my creditors. If you can afford to save could you repay your debts quicker than save? I’m hoping that once I have more realistic actual costs of living that I can increase my payments.  Sorry I don’t have answers but I’m sure someone else will know for sure. Good luck 

I'm in a similar situation to you too - I sorted out my DMP (with Payplan as I'm self employed) yesterday. I haven't even missed any payments yet. I'm struggling with the idea of ignoring creditor letters/ calls when or if they come. Because that's what I've been avoiding but like yourself I have had no money left to 'live'. 

I know something had to change but I am truly gutted about my credit file to be honest. I've fought so hard to avoid this as 6 years is such a long time. But ultimately I have no choice left now.

I also have a husband who has a perfect credit score and is really good with money so I am dealing with this alone and feel like a failure. I'm dreading the time coming when he suggests us moving or a change of car for me etc as I feel like then my 'secret' will come out

I just keep trying to remember that I sadly have no choice now though.

'I also have a husband who has a perfect credit score and is really good with money so' how do you know? Do you two tally all expenses up and share them? Including all of the little kiddy expenses, gifts and house items - if you have children that really adds up? Remember to start saving up, and do a pension check if you're self employed. And be proud that you're getting your finances together, not embarrassed.  

He makes regular investments, buying and selling and is able to do so with ease. He checks his credit file regularly and has a high score. He pays for all of our mortgage and bills, most things for the children (he's a high earner). The groceries, my car, my petrol and childcare (which won't be applicable come September) falls on me. We have always had separate finances - largely because he owned multiple properties when we first met and so it just somehow carried on that way.

The current mortgage is in both of our names though, as he sold his properties and I owned one and we lumped our deposits together to buy the family home. 

I am definitely going to start saving up though - just the chance to do so would feel great.

NB. I know our way of doing things may seem strange to some!

nicwantstobuy

ditty1234 said:

nicwantstobuy said:

Thanks for all the advice & support so far. I decided to go Dmp with step change. MASSIVE decision for me, I’ve had to really shift my thinking about where to prioritise money - rent, gas & elec, loan, were priority over everything else inc food. The poor advisor at step change, I cried so much when we talked through my budget, I’d been massively reducing our food budget, buying enough for my little boy, cutting back on mine to two decent meals a week & everything else either on toast or my work lunches of coffee & a dairy Lea dunker. The advisor was great, really supportive & patient. 

I think I’ve started to accept that dmp will be best but I’m still a bit scared as my first ever missed payment will be next week. Hopefully when the sky doesn’t fall in then I might feel some relief. It does feel good to know I will have money for food next month, as well as all the bills. 

To the poster above asking re savings, I would also love to buy. I was advised that I can save a max of £25 per month -(this also feels like a luxury) I guess it depends on whether creditors want to see your budget?  I’ve no experience of this, my budget was planned with step change who I think share it with my creditors. If you can afford to save could you repay your debts quicker then save? I’m hoping that once I have more realistic actual costs of living that I can increase my payments.  Sorry I don’t have answers but I’m sure someone else will know for sure. Good luck 

'I was advised that I can save a max of £25 per month' this is why I went self managed after about a year or two - when I had time to sit down and write all of the letters. You will need to save up more than £25 a month - an emergency might cost anything from £100-£500 depending if it is a car repair - a fridge or a vet bill. If you read back through this thread you will find lots of great advice about saving up for an emergency fund for 3-6 months before you start paying off your debt. 

I am 4 years in and to get off the credit card mill is the best thing I ever did. 

Hi thank you for this - can you link to any advice about savings please? I’ve started to read back - it’s a long thread.  any advice is very much appreciated. I’m totally gutted to be in this position. 

sourcrates

dfwb23 said:

Hi everyone. I have to say, finding this forum and this thread, in particular, has been amazing. Reading through people that have had similar situations and have found light at the of the debt tunnel has really made me feel more positive about my own situation. I have recently started a new career which whilst it has significantly better long-term earning potential, I have taken a significant drop in wages in the interim. Couple that with the recent cost of living issues, and things have been a struggle as of late.

My situation is, 16k unsecured debt, split between loans, credit cards, and overdrafts. Fortunately, not behind in rent, council tax, and energy bills are in credit at the moment so doing well on that front. I am now at the stage though when debt repayments are essentially swallowing up everything I have left after paying basic household bills, barely leaving me anything with which to fuel up the car and buy food. I'm living off more and more credit just to get buy, paying off credit with other credit and the credit pool is drying up. I'm basically one random little life event away from being in serious, serious trouble. 

I believe a DMP is probably the way to go for me. I would rather go self-managed, I have a few questions and queries about how I should precede and why some people advise or do certain things. 


First off, Emergency Funds. I'm 32, I have zero savings, and anytime life throws a financial clanger at me, it's super stressful and I struggle to deal with it. I would also like to one day own my house so being able to start saving is a huge goal of mine. But short term, having an emergency fund is extremely important for me. I see a lot of people saying when you stop paying your creditors, you should use this opportunity to start saving an EF. Is this because it's the best opportunity you will have to start one, or are there some unexpected costs associated with a DMP you have to be prepared for? Perhaps a little of column A and a little from column B I suspect, but would be good to be prepared regardless. 

Also, I have a few small credit amounts (<£300), would I better clearing them during this time or just add them to the DMP and put the money into an EF. 


With regards to negotiating repayment plans with creditors, how accommodating do they tend to be? I'm sure it differs on a case-by-case basis but just in general, do they tend to be quite willing to negotiate? Since all the defaults are going to be on my credit file and I will have defaults recorded there until 6 years after the last default date, my ideal plan would just be to repay all my debts across the 6 years from the date of the last default. Is anyone able to give some insight into how accommodating creditors are likely to be to repayments over this time scale? I'm not trying to get the debt reduced or anything, I want to pay it all back but just within a timeframe that I can actually afford. 

Since the time taken for an account to default varies hugely, is it worth paying any account that defaults a token payment until the time comes when all my accounts have defaulted to avoid legal action? 

With regards to negotiating with creditors, am I correct in thinking that I don't need to do a formal DMP or anything like that, I can literally just offer them payment terms and hope they accept?


I'm not sure how realistic all this is, but I've calculated that freezing interest and charges and repaying all my debts over 6 years would basically reduce my monthly debt repayments to £230 a month which is pretty much a quarter of what I'm paying now. This would relieve my financial stresses and anxieties hugely and would even leave me with enough to start saving for a deposit for a mortgage each month as well. I'm just not sure about the morals on that one, technically, that money could be going towards my creditors which is money I do owe so I'm pretty conflicted on whether or not it's the right thing to do. 

Anyway, any and all advice, criticism, feedback, and suggestions would be really appreciated. 

Hi,

You are best off posting this on the general DFW forum so as many people as possible can advise you, this sub board doesn't get as much traffic you see.

sourcrates

Palpitations said:

Hi I’ve got myself in a muddle with a debt with creation and they have shoosmiths now equivo solicitors dealing with it. Looks like they obtained a ccj last year and they are now threatening further legal action if I don’t increase payment. What is the likelihood of them accepting a reduced offer at this stage? Thanks 

What is the payment the court says you must pay ? 

Because that is all you are required to pay, if they want you to pay more, they must go back to court and seek an increase, the court would want to see a copy of your most recent budget in order to make a decision.

If your budget shows no increase is possible, the court will deny there request.

Creditors like to make idle threats they cannot have any control over.

sourcrates

19ryanh93 said:

Hi all. 

So I’ve been on my DMP for a while and thought I’d check my credit report because why not haha. 

One thing I have noticed is that all the creditors are marking my payments as defaulted. Is that normal? 

Well aren`t you the lucky one !!!!

All those DMP`ers who are waiting for defaults will be very jealous.

Your post suggests to me you are unfamiliar with the whole debt management process, your accounts have defaulted as you have entered debt management, so no longer pay the contractual monthly repayment, just an amount you can afford each month.

So yes, its quite natural to have your accounts marked as being in default, once this happens, all interest and charges automatically stop, which is why those new to DMP`s crave defaults, do you see ?

So yes, its all normal and good.

swansea_lad

Hi everyone

I have just checked my credit report. There are a few missed payments around the time my DMP was set up. Is it worth me querying it? I have just paid off all my debt on 13 Feb 2023.    Thanks all 

watermelonx

Hi all. I’m in a DMP with stepchange and recieved a letter from one of my creditors demanding full payment of a loan I have with them. Is this standard when in a DMP? Do I just ignore? 

sourcrates

watermelonx said:

Hi all. I’m in a DMP with stepchange and recieved a letter from one of my creditors demanding full payment of a loan I have with them. Is this standard when in a DMP? Do I just ignore? 

Yes ignore it, its a standard letter they must send to comply with the consumer credit act in order for them to default your account.

File safely in the recycle bin.

Billy12345

Hi All,

I've been in a DMP since August 2016 with Stepchange and everything is going smoothly, albeit slowly.  All of my loans and credit cards have defaulted and I'm coming up to six years for nearly all of these, some hit that milestone in December last year and January this year. 

Most of the debts have been sold onto PRA or Westcott but I'm wondering how do I see whether these have dropped off my credit file.  Yes, there are still balances and I'm not looking for more debt but my credit karma score is sitting at 513 and hasn't changed.  I've looked at the closed accounts and none are there.

Any advice or guidance would be great

Ta muchly